Wiktionary
n. a type of firearm action which uses a lever located around the trigger guard area, to load fresh cartridges into the chamber when the lever is worked.
Wikipedia
Lever action is a type of firearm action which uses a lever located around the trigger guard area (often including the trigger guard itself) to load fresh cartridges into the chamber of the barrel when the lever is worked. This contrasts to bolt-action, semi-automatic, or selective-fire weapons. Most lever-action firearms are rifles, but some lever-action shotguns and a few pistols have also been made. One of the most famous lever-action firearms is the Winchester Model 1873 rifle, but many manufacturers—notably Marlin and Savage—also produce lever-action rifles. Even Colt's Mfg. Co. produced 1883 until 1885 6403 lever-action Colt-Burgess rifles. Mossberg produces the 464 in centerfire .30-30 and rimfire .22. While the term lever-action generally implies a repeating firearm, it is also sometimes (and incorrectly) applied to a variety of single-shot, or falling-block actions that use a lever for cycling, such as the Martini–Henry or the Ruger No. 1.
Usage examples of "lever action".
I have seen, for example, the Spencer repeating carbines the enemy cavalrymen employ, with a lever action to advance each successive bullet.
He shifted as he worked the lever action, never taking the butt from his shoulder, and fired again.
I was moving some of the equipment around in micrograv, got distracted, realized something was getting away from me, grabbed it, and lever action sorta whipped me around.
The cartridge had been originally designed for a Marlin rifle, but its lever action was too sloppy and inaccurate.
In addition, the lever action of the ossicles is such that sound-wave energy is concentrated.
The action of the lever downwards resulted in the movement of a plunger upwards, and I figured it was the friction involved in this mechanism that stiffened the lever action.
With a smooth, crisp movement, she worked the carbine's lever action and pointed the barrel at him.